


You're it

by Quicksilvermaid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Headcanon, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Insomnia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 06:31:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15701754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilvermaid/pseuds/Quicksilvermaid
Summary: But what if everyone hadn't come out of the war and lived happily ever after?





	You're it

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a drabble than a fic. I'm keeping a bunch of placeholder stories here to expand on later, so I don't lose them on tumblr.
> 
> Jump over and say hi and hound me to write more if you like haha: [@quicksilvermaid](http://quicksilvermaid.tumblr.com)

It started after he died. Harry'd had nightmares before. He'd dreamed Voldermort's life for _so long_. But after he died … it was different. Voldermort was gone. Everyone was safe. But he didn't _feel_ safe. It was like he couldn't switch off. Like he'd just put himself into this hyper-vigilant state and he just _couldn't_ switch off.

It was worse at night. When it was quiet. When there weren't endless things to do.

Instead it would be his thoughts, going round and round and round. All he wanted was to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. The sound of Ron and Seamus snoring away in the nearby beds did nothing but make it worse.

So he walked. He spent his nights roaming the silent halls of Hogwarts. He didn’t bother with his cloak. He almost wished he'd be caught. At least that would be something to do. Something to stop the thoughts that came in the night.

Sometimes he thought he felt eyes. Heard a whisper of sound. But always, when he turned, there was nothing there.

He began to watch for the flicker of movement, wait for the prickle of feeling on the back of his neck. It was something to do. Something to take his mind off the losses and the fears and the regrets.

After a while he was certain. There was someone there. Someone following him. Someone who could melt into the shadows more quickly and silently than he could believe. For a moment he toyed with the idea of getting the Marauder's Map out, to check who it was … but that would ruin the game.

And … he was sure it was a game. He'd begun to move more quickly, to lie in wait around corners, to turn in a split second when he felt the sensation of closeness. Once, when he tripped over his own feet, he heard the faintest of laughs in the still night.

It took the invisibility cloak for him to win. He disappeared around a corner, slipped it on, and waited. When his shadow came after him, Harry grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall, cloak slipping from his shoulders as he did. What he saw made him gasp in shock.

Wide, grey eyes stared back at him from just a few centimetres away. White blonde hair framed a face that was almost as familiar as his own.  
'Malfoy?!'

It took a second, but Harry could almost see the other boy pulling himself together, the surprise disappearing from his face as he raised one eyebrow.  
'I should have known you'd cheat, Potter.'

'I - what? What are you even -?'  
'As eloquent as ever,' Malfoy said with a smirk, voice … less cutting than Harry remembered. Then he shrugged. 'You're not the only one who can't sleep. I got bored and you were clumping around the place every night, so I thought I'd see how long it would be before you noticed me following you.'

Harry bristled, 'I noticed you ages ago,' he said, 'I just -'  
'Couldn't catch me,' Malfoy finished, smirk deepening. 'Well, you have me now, it seems, Potter,' Malfoy said, dropping his gaze to Harry's hands, still clenched around his robes and holding him against the wall.

With that glance, Harry suddenly realised how close he was standing to the other boy, and he flushed, stepping back and dropping his hands.  
Malfoy's gaze returned to his face and he seemed to hesitate a moment, a range of emotions flickering across his face, before he said, with a grin that had somehow dropped its arrogance and become challenging and … almost friendly … 'You any good at stealth charms, or do you need that cloak to sneak up on people?'

Harry stared for a moment, having no idea how to respond to this new - playful? - Draco Malfoy.  
'I spent months on the run. I can do them just fine.'

'Good,' Malfoy said, then he stepped forward and tapped Harry lightly on the cheek. 'You're it,' he said with the hint of a smile, as he disappeared into the darkness.


End file.
